There seems to have been a mad dash for the finish line in the compilation of Marikana: A View from the Mountain and a Case to Answer, the first of what is sure to be a slew of books and films on the subject. With its focus on finishing first, the team behind the book (led by University of Johannesburg sociology ­professor Peter Alexander, and including independent researchers based at the university) suffers a false start, scuppering an opportunity to give us a well-rounded overview of a massacre that represents the lowest point of what we once called “the new South Africa”.

Although the book sets itself up as an alternative “to the dominant view put forth by the media, government and [the] National Union of Mineworkers [NUM]”, it offers little that has not already entered the public domain through the media.